Enjoying a Sunday

This morning, I hopped a bus to go to Quiche for worship.  There were close to 50 people in the morning service. 

It is really an encouragement because when I first moved here in 2007, there were only 10-15 people for the morning worship.  In the afternoon, you need to arrive early to be sure to have a seat as it fills up quickly.  They have now purchased land and are planing on rebuilding.  This is always a good problem to have to deal with.

Class and Funeral

This morning, I met with a group at the Chichi Church of Christ to talk to them about English Classes.  Some of the children are struggling with their English Class in school.  So, we are looking at studying once or twice a month to help them improve their grades.

There were 17 students and they were very interested.  They had questions and participated. They will bring their homework and books from school so we will have some direction on what they need to study. It is always a challenge to get the more timid students to talk in class but they all did well.

Yesterday, Lisa told me that Micaela from Mactzul I had died. Lisa had been following her for quite a long time. This afternoon, Kemmel called and told me what time the burial would be so I headed up to Chichi.

When I got to the main road, the family was driving by so they allowed me to ride with them to the cemetery.  There were at least 200 people there.  They had several pickups and a bus.

This is the family of Micaela as they are preparing to enter the cemetery. 

Sebastian from Mactzul V shared some thoughts before the burial.  It was very difficult to hear him since there were 5 ice cream vendors and they were all ringing their bell.  It was very hot so the ice cream sold quickly. 

As Sebastian talked, I thought of.....

Hebrews 12:1-3

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles.  And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.  For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

It is interesting to think of that crowd of witnesses.......the people who are cheering us on to victory. When we first think of it, it may just be a crowd of people with faces unknown to us.  But as we continue through life, those unknown individuals begin to take on a face of someone that we have loved.

We know that Micaela is among that crowd now.  She was a faithful Christian lady who taught her children the importance of Christ in their life. What a reunion we all will have some day!

The School That is No More

Well........this is where the school USE to be!  Today was the second time this week that there has been some serious changes.  I pulled up to the area, looked at the people in the truck and we wondered what was missing.

This is a photo that I "stole" from Lisa and Kemmel's blog.  This is the old school that had been standing here for years.

And after many years, this now is how it lies.

This is a photo of the side of the new school, when we joked about it being the junior high parking lot.

Now, all that is parked here is the tile from the old school building.

We had a good clinic today but it was a small one.

The sky is full smoke from several fires in the area.  We can definitely see four separate fires in the distance.  We are hoping that we get some rain soon.

One of Lisa's patients came that needs surgery.  She will be followed in Chichi for one of her surgeries on Sunday  For the second surgery, she will travel to Antigua.

As I was waiting for more patients this afternoon, I watched this man carry his firewood up the hill.  You can see how dry the fields are. What a struggle for this man.

When I talked to Lisa today, she told me that one of her patients died either yesterday or this morning.  She had been seeing her for several months and from time-to-time we would take medicine to her home. She is a Christian and had suffered a long time. I know that her family is sorrowful but Micaela is now at peace.  Please pray for this family as they deal with their loss.

IVAA/ Pap Clinic in Patzibal

This afternoon, we had an IVAA/ Pap Class in Patzibal.  Sally, a friend of mine lives there and she has a clinic once a week.  She enjoys working with pregnant ladies and teaching the midwifes.

Today was exciting for me because Sandra translated for us into K'iche'.  She was in the ABC program and then continued to study to be a teacher.  She will soon have her teaching license and be able to work as a teacher.  She is also interested in continuing to study to be a dentist.

There were about 16 ladies in the class and before we finished, 11 had signed up for the clinic.  We will look at doing the clinic in August, after Sally and Erv return from visiting their family in The States.

I do not have a photo of us today but this is a photo of Sandra and I last October.  She has done very well and am so proud of her!

Sally and Erv, thank you for the invitation!  Have a great time with your family and when you return, we will sechdule the clinic.  Stay safe on your travels!

Encouraging Clinic in Chuguexa

The clinic area was full when we arrived!! 

Enrique, Cecy and I quickly set up and started seeing patients.  This is the clinic that we have a large population of diabetic patients.  We saw 29 patients and 9 were diabetics.  What is so encouraging is that 11 of those patients were new to the clinic.  The word continues to spread...........

I was very pleased with the blood sugars.  One new patient was 491 last month and today she was 208.  Yes, she needs to improve some more but this is a good start for her.  One patient started a few months ago with a blood sugar of over 500 and today was 97.

We also had another new patient today that has been using a foley catheter for 3 years.  He goes once a month to Solola to have it changed.  He needs to have prostate surgery but the doctor in Solola told him that he is not healthy enough and would die if they attempted surgery.  This is not the best way to live but he is more comfortable. 

This was one of the little girls that we saw.  She did not mind the exam too much but she was ready to go when we finished :)

Tomorrow, we will have an IVAA/Pap class in Patzibal.  Sally, a friend of mine, has a clinic there and she has invited us to present this class. We will see how many ladies sign up for the clinic.

Clinic in Mactzul II

Today, I had the opportunity to do clinic in Mactzul II for Sarah.

Sarah is in Santa Cruz today with Maury, Cecy and Enrique doing IVAA/ Pap exams for the ladies there.  They have 30 ladies scheduled and will provide care today for half and then the remainder on next Tuesday.

This morning, I went to Zepela to meet Micaela.  Her sister, Martina, usually works with Aura but today Micaela will fill those shoes.  It is a great opportunity for her, as she wants to continue her education and study to be a dentist.

When we arrived in Mactzul II, we thought that someone had STOLEN the church building!!  When we made the turn and found the barren lot, I just stopped the truck!

Well, first thoughts are not always correct..........and we found out that they tore the building down and plan on rebuilding in June. It will be a 3-4 year project........slow but sure.

This photo was taken in 2013 when we had another clinic here.

We had a good clinic and stayed busy.  There were 11 medical patients and 12 dental patients.

For lunch, we took a short break and enjoyed chow mein, tortillas, chili and lemonade. Kemmel would have LOVED the chili........sorry, I ate your portion!

We had a variety of patients.  One young girl had a ganglion cyst on her wrist.  Several with general aches and arthritis. One girl came home from school with a 103.2 fever.  One mother brought in an ultrasound from her daughter and will follow-up with Lisa on Thursday.

This is Aura and Micaela with their last patient of the day.

Tomorrow, a few of us will head out to Chuguexa and I expect we will have a lot of diabetic patients.

Stay tuned!

Clinic in Chuicaca

We started a clinic a few months ago in Chuicaca.  It has been slow in getting going but good things have happened!

Last month, the minister from the Church of God, asked us if we would see 22-23 children from the public school.  He told us what great need there is and that he would pay for all of the consults.  We welcomed his idea and looked forward to our clinic day.

As we were wating to get the key to open the building, here come the students and teachers!
We had 23 students come to the clinic.

I also talked to the teachers about doing an IVAA/ Pap class in the school.  They were really excited about it and will call me if we can schedule it.  All of the mothers and teachers would be invited.  How exciting is that??

This is Cecy checking in some students.

There is definately a great need in this community.  Only one child told me he has a toothbrush.  I asked the teachers about that and they told me that it is probably true. After today, the promoters talked about what a blessing our ABC Program is to children and the community. Hygiene is a problem here and we need to do a lot of education.

Maria, our dental assistant taking a little girl's temperature.

Sandra had an opportunity to talk with some families.  She is also wanting to do some dental education.

There were two students with heart murmurs.  I will follow-up with them and their parents at the next clinic.

Manuel distributing medicine to a lady that we also saw in March.  It is nice when patients and happy with their care and return the next month.

I think that good things will be happening in Chuicca!